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"The Armenian-AzerbaijaniNagorno-Karabakh conflict can not be settled without the political leaders of the region – Russia, Iran and Turkey. Their rapprochement can contribute to resolve theNagorno-Karabakh conflict,” said Russian journalist and political scientist Maxim Shevchenko.
He made remarks at the international symposium titled “The future of the region: Geopolitical challenges and perspectives” held in Baku on Dec.23, APA reports.
Shevchenko noted that the world is ready for serious changes and is tired of the unresolved conflict.
“The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict arose in order to create other foci of conflict in the future. When they say that Russia in the 90s of the last century held an erroneous position on Karabakh conflict, it offends me. At that time, Russia and the Yeltsin-Gaidar regime was ruled from Washington,” he said.
The political scientist also reminded that wealthy Armenian businessmen have direct access to the US president.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.
A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.
The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.
Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCEMinsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in Dec.1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.
Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.
Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.